5 weeks break - Curry pasties

Last week we had a planned black out. The power was off about 3 hours longer than expected which wore thin once dark fell.

As I knew about the black out before it happened I planned my day around cleaning out my chest freezer. It wasn't an exciting job but it was a good job to get done. Its certainly been on my list too long. My chest freezer is in the laundry and I really went to town, cleaned out cupboards and drawers and completed more de-cluttering. So that fell good. I threw out some of the contents of the freezer but I re-discovered some great food that I forgot I had.  

One of those finds was several tubs of forgotten lentil and vegetable curry.   

Today I turned the curry into delicious pasties or curry puffs if you will.  I added some spinach, a spoonful of curry, turned the pastry over and crimped the edges. A little egg wash and bake for 20 minutes. Yum.

Tip: If your curry is a moist soup style you will need to drain it first. Pasties and lots of liquid don't mix.

5 weeks holiday equals lots of homespun bliss

I am today embarking on the wonderful indulgent bliss of 5 weeks from work with nothing particular to do and nowhere in particular to go.

Five weeks to explore what homespun bliss is all about. To cook, sew, garden, spend time with my pets, to journal and meditate.  Ahh how wonderful.

Sit back, tune in and let me share my adventures.

Day 1 - housework
Ok yeah yeah, I know it sounds boring.  But a clean, de-cluttered house is a wonderful way to start down time as it allows you to feel free and refreshed.

Sweep away some cobwebs and feel present in your home.

I've actually been de-cluttering for weeks and have sent clothes, crockery, books and more to the charity shops. I've cleaned out my filing cabinet - only 7 years of tax and bank records, no junk and everything I removed has been shredded. I washed curtains and sheets and put away all my work clothes, I won't need them for a while.

Day 2
We all went kayaking on a local river, you know one of those spots we've been talking about exploring for ages but never got around to, now that we've been its one of my new favourite spots. Lovely calm water with plenty of bird life.  We took our doggies along for the ride which they enjoyed, I think.  It was a new experience for them.  

They both sat very quietly and were such sweet company. I got a little nervous when we passed cows cooling their hooves in the river as at home the dogs bark and bother them but there wasn't a sound from either.

I ended day 2 like this::

A great beginning but stay tuned it gets better.